LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – Since her early rise in 1889, this brick beauty has seen more change than the piggy bank you keep on your dresser.
Rooted as a cotton mill, woven into a textile shop and then put on display for her magnificent age and markings at an antique mall, today every brick is nestled away inside individual loft apartments.
Like her ever-changing purpose, in the last 130-year stretch, I’m not sure she was ready to share her lovely shade of red with a new hue of – poo?
“When landlords used to hear the word, “pet”, we used to cringe,” Melissa Hublar said.
Obviously never having met Sgt. Pepper or sweet Cali girl – those relic landlords should lend an ear to these new proprietors.
“Pets are not just pets anymore – let’s be real. They’re like our family. They’re almost like our children – they’re like extended family members,” Hublar said.
Hublar says gone are the days when long leases, playgrounds and suburb living was the trend. Millennials like Jenny Youngberg have different needs.
“We have so many in our generation with dogs and cats or whatever that when someone says to you ‘we’re not pet-friendly’, we’ll just look somewhere else,” Youngberg said.
Just a few short weeks later and following in their competitor’s footsteps, came the rise of the bark park.
It’s a friendly place for pup owners and their extended family to take the edge off of busy city living.
Youngberg says the new hot spot is not only a place she and Sgt. Pepper spend time together but also a place where she’s met new friends and young professionals.
“I think apartments are going to start considering what we can do what else we can put in,” she said. “Happy pet, happy pet parent, happy manager, happy property – it was a win-win for everybody.”
Hublar says they really considered the park after having a tenant who had a pup having trouble transitioning from house to apartment living.
They not only now offer the dog park but other dog services to their tenants. She says their strategy has been so successful, they’re at 100 percent capacity.